Concept Note
Student Competition on triangular cooperation for sustainable development
25 February 2020
Background
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Recently, the UN Office for South-South Cooperation convened a Seminar on Partnerships, South-South and triangular cooperation in partnership with researchers from Social Sciences Korea (SSK) Research Group on Inclusive Development Partnership, funded by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea. One of the main findings presented was that the Asia-Pacific region lags behind other regions in terms of triangular cooperation implementation.
The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) will co-host a Student Speech Competition on triangular cooperation for sustainable development on 25 February 2020. The competition is co-sponsored by Siam Cement Group (SCG).
The aim of the student competition is to promote increased awareness and participation of students and youth in South-South and triangular cooperation for sustainable development. It is important to reach out to young generation and hear their voices and perspectives as they will be a significant part of future sustainable development.
The student competition falls under the UNOSSC platforms on Youth4South and Knowledge Management whereby the UNOSSC is reaching out to academic institutions to help distill and disseminate the messages about South-South and triangular cooperation at regional and national levels.The Youth competition is intended to energise the young people and build their awareness on South-South and triangular cooperation as potent modalities to achieve the sustainable development agenda. A major target for this outreach is the mass media in the Asia Pacific Region. Therefore, as much coverage as possible will be sought during the event. Organisers intend to work with other partners in the region to scale the debate on South-South and triangular cooperation.
Details of the competition are as follows:
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Participating Student Teams
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As a pilot project, student teams from various universities will be invited to participate in the competition as follows:
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Undergraduate level: Student teams from regional universities and
technical universities;
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Graduate level: Student teams from universities in Bangkok
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Competition Methodology
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There are two team categories: undergraduate and graduate. In each category, student teams will make a presentation/speak for about 20 minutes on a topic related to triangular cooperation and development cooperation/sustainable development. A specific topic will be assigned to student teams in advance: one topic to undergraduate and another different topic to undergraduate.
Scoring criteria include (1) organization, clarity and understanding of topic, (2) use of argument, (3) use of facts and statistics, and (4) presentation style, including clarity of expression, degree of drawing audience’s attention.
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Speech Topics
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Undergraduate level:
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Given that concepts of South-South and North-South Cooperation exist, what is the necessity of triangular cooperation as a modality of development cooperation and sustainable development?
Graduate level:
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Triangular cooperation has been praised by some and at the same time criticized by other people as a development modality. Take one side of the pro or con argument, support your position with examples and lay down your arguments during debate.
Judges
There will be a panel of five judges as follows:
1. one representative from UNESCAP, Chair of the Panel
2. one representative from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
3. one representative from Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization/JICA
4. one representative from private sector (Indorama Ventures)
5. one representative from UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC)
Competition Day and Announcement of Winning Teams
Competition for all student teams will be held on 25 February 2020 at Conference Room 4, UN Conference Centre, Bangkok. Announcement of winning teams and award ceremony will take place in the afternoon.
Certificate
Each member of all participating student teams will be awarded a certificate of recognition on 25 February 2020.
Prize Money is sponsored by Siam Cement Group (SCG).
Undergraduate Level
-First place team 16,000 baht
-Runner-up team 8,000 baht
Graduate Level
-First place team 16,000 baht
-Runner-up team 8,000 baht
Token of Appreciation
A certificate of appreciation will be given to each judge and each student team’s supervising lecturer/coordinator.
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Agenda
09.00 – 09.15 hrs. Registration
09.10 – 09.20 hrs. -Brief Meeting of Judge panel chaired by Mr. Adnan Aliani, Director,
Strategy and Programme Management Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Venue: VIP Room attached to CR-4
-Group Photo
09.20 – 09.40 hrs. Pre-opening session
-Showing video in support of those affected by N-Coronavirus
-invitation to Social Media Post
-invitation to vote for a favourite video
-Competition draw
-Networking with participants
09.40 – 09.50 hrs. Opening Ceremony for Student Speech Competition
- Remarks (via pre-recorded video) by Mr. Jorge Chediek,
UNOSSC Director and Envoy Of the Secretary General
on South-South Cooperation
-Remarks by Mr. Adnan Aliani, ESCAP
09.50 – 09.55 hrs. Pre-competition speech by Mr. Denis Nkala,
UNOSSC Regional Coordinator
Student Competition I
10.00 – 10.30 hrs. Graduate competition team 1
-preceded by introductory video
10.30 – 10.45 hrs. Coffee break
10.45 – 11.15 hrs. Graduate competition team 2
-preceded by introductory video
11.15 – 11.45 hrs Undergraduate competition team 1
-preceded by introductory video
11.45 – 12.15 hrs Undergraduate competition team 2
-preceded by introductory video
-Collecting score cards from the Panel who will be invited to
the VIP Room attached to CR-4
12.15 – 13.25 hrs. Luncheon
Venue: Public Foyer, Ground Floor, UNCC
Student Competition II
13.25 – 13.30 hrs. Reminder of favourite video vote
13.30 – 14.00 hrs. Undergraduate competition team 3
-preceded by introductory video
14.00 – 14.30 hrs. Undergraduate competition team 4
-preceded by introductory video
14.30 – 15.00 hrs. Undergraduate competition team 5
-preceded by introductory video
- Collecting score cards from the Panel who will be invited to
the VIP Room attached to CR-4
15.00 –15.30 hrs. Coffee Break
15.30 –16.00 hrs. Announcement of the winning social media posts and favourite video
16.00 – 17.00 hrs. Student Award ceremony
Undergraduate level
(certificates and prize money to be handed out by Mr. Denis Nkala,
UNOSSC Regional Coordinator)
-Certificate for each member of the fifth, fourth and third place teams
-Certificate for each member of the runner-up and first place teams
-Prize money for runner-up and first place teams
Graduate level
(certificates and prize money to be handed out by Mr. Denis Nkala,
UNOSSC Regional Coordinator)
-Certificate for each member of the runner-up and first place teams
-Prize money for runner-up and first place teams
-Certificate for each team supervisor
Certificates for Team Supervisors (handed out by Mr. Denis Nkala)
Volunteer Certificates (to be handed by Mr. Denis Nkala)
Token of Appreciation
-For each judge panel member (to be handed by Mr. Denis Nkala)
-Observation remarks by judge panel members
Closing
-Reflections from Dr. Aung Win Tun, Mahidol University
-Concluding Remarks by Mr. Denis Nkala, UNOSSC
